[Locked] The Master Chief Collection Bug Investigation

Forum Team

343 Industries

Rather than updating this forum post moving forward, we will be providing updates in longer-form blog posts. Please read the 1.31 Halo Community Update here, and stay tuned to for further updates.

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1.27 2:00PM Update

Work on the upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection content update continues, and we will provide further updates on availability directly to selected Xbox One Preview program participants via the Preview Dashboard announcements page.

As we mentioned last week, the upcoming content update will include changes to the matchmaking experience and party system. In addition to these changes, we continue to work on additional game-specific updates and more that will be made available in future content updates. Please stay tuned to this thread for the latest information.

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1.21 2:30PM Update

In recent weeks, we have been conducting extensive internal testing of an upcoming content update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Given the scale of the update, which includes changes to the matchmaking experience and party system, we are expanding testing to include select members of the Xbox One Preview program to ensure the official release is the best possible experience for all players. For more details, head here: http://aka.ms/CUbetatestfaq

Our upcoming content update is undergoing further testing, and will be available within the next few days. We’ve made the full patch notes available here: http://aka.ms/jan17update

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1.14 7:00PM Update

The Halo 4 and Team Hardcore playlists are now available in Matchmaking. As always, playlists data and feedback will determine which playlists become permanent additions to the playlist lineup.

Our next content update is now targeting a late weekend release in order to conduct additional testing. This content update will include improvements to UI, Matchmaking, game-specific multiplayer items, controls, and more. We’ll continue to post updates via this thread, and provide full patch notes once the update has cleared the certification process.

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1.12 4:20PM Update

Our next content update, which includes updates to UI and a variety of other areas, remains on track for delivery later this week. Additionally, final tests are underway for the Halo 4 and Team Hardcore playlists, and we are aiming to make these available within the next few days. Team Hardcore will launch with Halo 2 Classic variants only, and Halo 3 maps and game types will be integrated in a future update. Other fan favorite playlists are also in the works, including Team Snipers, Team Doubles, an objective-only playlist, and more.

Additional content updates are on the way, and will include added improvements for matchmaking, parties, and other top community items. Please stay tuned to this thread for updates.

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1.6 5:30PM Update

As we had mentioned before the holidays, the team continues to work on upcoming Halo: The Master Chief Collection updates to improve the existing experience and add new content. We’ve continued this work through the holidays, and have multiple content updates in the works. Our next content update, which will address UI and a variety of other areas, is currently on track for delivery next week. We will provide additional info regarding the exact ETA and final details of the upcoming content update once the certification process is completed.

Additionally, this Thursday, we’ll be updating MCC to include new achievements for Spartan Ops, as well as some additional ones for multiplayer. These will become available this Thursday, 1/8.

Improving your experience with Halo: The Master Chief Collection remains our top priority, and we thank you for your continued feedback and reports on community forums and elsewhere as we prioritize updates for each CU. We will continue to provide the latest information via this thread.

Forum Team

343 Industries

We have updated the Matchmaking playlist lineup to include Halo: CE. As mentioned before launch, we held this playlist until additional gameplay improvements could be made to Halo: CE, and many of these improvements were included in our most recent content update. The playlist is now available. As we mentioned before launch, the Halo: CE playlist will be premiering at 2v2 based on community feedback.

--12.15 2:01PM Update

We’ve released a content update that addresses Matchmaking, roster, parties, and more areas. Full patch notes here: http://aka.ms/dec15update

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12.10 Playlist Update

As the team continues to work on additional improvements to matchmaking and other areas, we are deploying a variety of server-side updates to matchmaking player counts, as well as bringing back SWAT as the featured playlist. See the details of these changes below:

SWAT has returned as the featured playlist.

Updated the player count to 4v4 (6 minimum, 8 maximum) for the following playlists:

- Team Slayer- Halo 2 Classic- Halo 3- Halo Championship Series- SWAT

Our next content update is scheduled for early next week, and we’ll provide additional details of what’s included in the near future. We thank you for your continued feedback, patience, and support.

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12.7 4:15 PM Update

Our latest content update, which addresses matchmaking, parties, custom games, achievements, stability, and more, is now live. Read the full details of the update here: http://aka.ms/dec7cu

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12.6 11:45 AM Update

Our upcoming content update will address parties, custom games, stability, and more, and continues to remain on track for delivery early next week.

--12.3. 6:30 PM Update

The Xbox Live team is aware of and investigating an issue that is impacting multiple titles, including Halo: The Master Chief Collection. For the latest updates, please keep an eye on the official service status page: http://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-live-status--12.3 4:30 PM Update

The next time you log into Halo: The Master Chief Collection, you will be prompted to download the latest content update. This particular content update focuses specifically on matchmaking. Read the patch notes here: http://aka.ms/dec3update

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12.1 2:45 PM Update

The team continues development and testing of upcoming content updates, the next of which will specifically make improvements to the matchmaking system and flow. This particular update is on track for delivery this week. We will provide more details on the exact ETA, included fixes, and additional upcoming content updates in the near future. Please stay tuned to this thread for more details.

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11.28 2:37 PM Update

Development and testing of our next content update continues, and neither the holiday nor weekend has interrupted progress. We will provide further details and an estimated delivery date in the near future.

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11.26 7:05 PM Update

The latest content update for Halo: The Master Chief Collection is now live. This particular content update address a number of matchmaking issues, fixes various bugs related to UI and the party system, while also improving general stability. Full patch notes can be found here.

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11.26 11:03 AM Update

Our upcoming content update is still on track for delivery this week, and includes a variety of updates for Matchmaking, UI, roster and lobby, and more.

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11.24 6:01 PM Update

Development and testing of our latest content update continues, and we are on track for release later this week. Read the full update from Bonnie Ross here.

Forum Team

343 Industries

11.23 10.18 PM Update

The Halo 2: Anniversary Rumble playlist is now live. The playlist is currently set to 10 players max and does not feature ranking, however we'll be modifying to 8 players max and adding ranked play once we've ironed out existing matchmaking issues.

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11.23 1:15 AM Update

We are running final tests on the Halo 2: Anniversary Rumble playlist, and will be integrating the playlist into the rotation as soon as possible. We'll provide an update once we've pushed the playlist live.

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11.22 3:25 PM Update

Based on community feedback we’ve received since yesterday’s update, we are bringing the Halo 2: Anniversary Rumble playlist, which features a variety of FFA game types, back into the matchmaking rotation. Our team continues to work on resolving existing matchmaking issues such as party splitting and uneven teams, and in the meantime, this playlist will offer a mix of game types that are not affected by these known issues.

The H2A Rumble playlist will be coming online within the next few hours, and you should see it appear in your playlist lineup shortly. The playlist is currently unranked, but we’ll be bringing ranking online once we’ve ironed out existing matchmaking issues.

Additionally, we’d like to take this opportunity to provide some additional troubleshooting steps that will help ensure the best Halo: The Master Chief Collection experience while our team works on resolving existing issues behind the scenes.

1. Setting your NAT to OpenWe’ve found that players who have their NAT set to open tend to have the highest success rates in Matchmaking. For assistance with opening your NAT, head here.

2. Airport Extreme Router TroubleshootingWe’ve found that players who are using Apple Airport routers may have increased difficulty connecting to matches due to the default settings. To optimize your settings for gameplay on Xbox One, follow the below steps to allow teredo tunnels, which is set to “off” by default.

As we mentioned yesterday, the team is already at work on upcoming updates, and we’ll continue to provide the latest details in this thread. Thank you for your continued patience.

343 Industries--

11.21 6:17 PM Update

We wanted to provide you with an update on what we’re seeing as a result of yesterday’s content update (CU). We realize that silence and opacity, even when we have nothing new to say, is frustrating. With each change and/or update we make, it takes time for us to capture and analyze the data to determine the tangible impact to the game experience.

Additionally, we've already begun work on future updates which will be informed by the data and community feedback we’re seeing from yesterday’s CU.Our data shows that the CU improved things statistically, but we are aware that far too many are not seeing improvements. We continue to work on these issues, with our primary focus being on matchmaking performance. Additionally, we also noticed that the CU inadvertently introduced some new UI bugs, which will be fixed shortly. For now, you will continue to see uneven match-ups and larger than normal team sizes in matchmaking. This is a temporary situation that is caused by the fact that we are allowing more players than normal into a matchmaking session in order to improve overall matching times. We realize this is not ideal, and we will reset those parameters to their expected behavior as soon as our matchmaking improves to a level where players are consistently getting into matches in shorter time frames.

Additionally, in yesterday’s patch notes, we announced that parties would no longer be split after a matchmaking session, and we’re aware that this bug has regressed. This issue, along with others, will be addressed in the coming content updates. We’ll be monitoring feedback and data over the weekend, and will provide an update on Monday regarding our progress. Moving forward, we will continue to post the details of our fixes on Waypoint in order to keep you updated with the latest information.

Please keep an eye on this thread (http://aka.ms/mcc_updates) for details as we continue to make updates to the title. 343 Industries

Tomorrow afternoon (Thursday, Nov. 20), our latest content update will become available. This particular content update addresses matchmaking performance, UI, gameplay, and title-specific issues. We are on track for a release of mid-late afternoon Pacific Time for this content update, and will immediately let you know when it is available. For now, a change list of specific fixes and updates is available here.

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11.17 8:00 PM Update

This week’s content update, which was originally scheduled for release this Wednesday, 11/19, will now be releasing later this week to allow for additional fixes, as well as the completion of the testing and certification process.

This content update includes a variety of fixes across the title, including Matchmaking performance issues, general UI and game stability improvements, as well as fixes for game-game specific issues in Halo: CE, Halo 2, and Halo 2: Anniversary, and more. The full patch notes will be posted later this week, in advance of the content update release.

Thank you for your continued patience

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11.15 7:00 PM Update

Looking at our data logs, server-side adjustments that we have made over the past 24 hours have shown a 20% increase in server connectivity. However, we are well aware that performance is not where it needs to be, and have a content update on the way. Read the full update from Executive Producer Dan Ayoub here

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11.14 9:00 PM

UpdateEarlier today, we released a content update that addresses campaign, UI, and some Matchmaking and party issues. As we mentioned yesterday, a larger Matchmaking performance-focused content update is currently planned for release next week.To see the update details, head here: Patch Notes

Forum Team

343 Industries

11.14 1:00 PM Update

This morning, we rolled out tweaks that should begin to further improve the Matchmaking experience, including:Dedicated server stability improvementsLaid the groundwork for upcoming Matchmaking content updates, including improvements to the team selection processDetails on the 11.14 Content Update:

This evening, we will be releasing a content update that addresses a variety of community-reported issues. This content update addresses campaign, UI, and some Matchmaking party issues. As we mentioned yesterday, a larger Matchmaking performance-focused content update is currently planned for release next week. We will have the full details of this update when the update goes live late afternoon (PST).

Please stay tuned to this thread and official channels for this afternoon's update. We thank you for your continued patience.

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11.13 8:46 PM Update

Tip for faster Matchmaking: Please ensure that when you are in the matchmaking state, looking for players, the column on the right is headed by the string, “In Lobby” - Usually with gray boxes beneath, until a whole game is gathered.

For more details, see this Matchmaking tip (with screenshots) from Frankie: https://www.halowaypoint.com/en-us/forums/85d779d52cfd46918b4f8b638f2e3c7b/topics/matchmaking-tip-from-frankie/c6a1c90a-5fcc-4cba-946b-8f189506d687/posts

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11.13 1:28 PM Update

We are aware that while some users are reporting improved Matchmaking experiences, many users have not seen an improvement. As a result, we are temporarily moving to a limited playlist layout that will allow for players to find games faster.

We’ll temporarily be removing the following playlists:

Team Hardcore

Rumble Pit

Halo 4

SWAT (rotational)

The updated playlist layout will be: Team Halo 2: Anniversary

Halo Championship Series

Team Slayer

Big Team Battle

Halo 2 Classic

Halo 3

This concentrated playlist layout will allow players to get into matches faster, and improve overall match times. While we anticipate that concentrating our players into fewer playlists will have an effect on match times, it will not solve all Matchmaking issues. We are currently investigating CUs and server side tweaks over the next week to address matchmaking issues. To read more, see our latest update here:

Lastly, back-end data is showing that the majority of successful Matchmaking matches are found within 2-4 minutes of searching. When searching, if you do not find a match within 5 minutes, please return to lobby and restart the search, as this will reset the search parameters and increase the likelihood of finding a match within the aforementioned range.

Thank you for your continued patience. We will continue to post regular updates as we work to deliver fixes.

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11.13.14 9:30 AM Update

We are aware that last night's server side update has improved Matchmaking times for some users, while others are still seeing longer than expected times. We continue to investigate and will have a detailed update coming later this morning PST.

We thank you for your continued patience.

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11.12.14 7:04 PM Update

We have identified that our 11.12 morning server-side update has improved matchmaking times for many users, while others are still seeing longer than expected times.

This evening we plan to deploy additional server updates that will improve searching times and increase the likelihood of players finding games. The update will allow more players to enter matches, which may result in larger team sizes (5v5 instead of 4v4, for example). Occasionally, this may result in uneven teams, and we continue to work on this issue.

We have also confirmed that stats and achievements are not registering, and are working with the Xbox Live team to ensure that these issues are resolved as quickly as possible.

As we stated previously, the 343 team continues to work around the clock to provide ongoing improvements to the experience for Halo: The Master Chief Collection. Thank you for the ongoing patience and support.

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11.12.14 - 5:45 PM PST Update

The 5 PM PST update is delayed. Please stand by for additional info, coming at or before 7PM PST.

11.12.14 - 11:10 AM PST UpdateNext update coming: 11.12 - 5 PM PST

We have deployed a number of server updates to help improve matchmaking. These updates should expedite search times and allow you to find matches faster and easier. We are actively monitoring data for wait times and will continue to modify as necessary.

Additionally, we are monitoring all non-matchmaking feedback, and still targeting another release for this weekend. Please continue to use the support forums to report and discuss issues. We will continue to work until issues are resolved, and thank you for your continued patience. Please stay tuned to this thread for regular updates.

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11.11.14 - 11:55 PM PST UpdateNext update coming: 11.12 10AM PST

We have posted an update here: http://bit.ly/1xrSQop

Tomorrow morning (Wednesday morning Pacific Time) we plan to roll out a number of server updates to help improve matchmaking. Again, these are server-side fixes, so you won't need to take a content update or reboot your console; you should see the effects right away.

In addition, we are targeting another release for this weekend, which will address a number of other community priorities. An unrelated issue with services is also causing achievements to not unlock correctly, and we realize this just makes it all feel a bit worse.

Forum Team

343 Industries

11.11.14 - 4:30 PM PST Update

The following Halo: The Master Chief Collection Matchmaking issues have been reported by the community, and are currently under investigation. If you are experiencing any of the below, please post as many details as possible in the appropriate threads. We are also actively investigating game-specific and non-Matchmaking issues, but currently focusing on providing updates regarding Matchmaking in this thread, as it is our top priority.

We’ll continue to provide updates on the status of each issue and expected time of resolution, when appropriate.

Issue: Players are experiencing unusually long Matchmaking times.

Description: We are aware of the issues players have been experiencing with matchmaking and we’re working around the clock, alongside the Xbox Live team, to improve the situation. We have deployed an update that has shown some improvement, and we continue to optimize the experience. The update deployed to matchmaking was done on the server side and does not require an extra download to your Xbox One. This is our top priority and will keep everyone updated regularly as we deploy continued improvements.

In the meantime, if you do not find a match after five minutes of searching, please quit the search and re-enter Matchmaking by searching again. This will reset the process and increase the likelihood of finding a match.

Status: Investigating

Issue: Parties are being split up when entering a matchmaking game.

Description: We are aware of issues that cause players in the same party (both split-screen and online) to be split up onto the same team.Status: Investigating Issue: Games can start with unbalanced teams.Description: We are aware of an issue that causes games to start with unbalanced teams and in some cases, incorrect team sizes and colors.

Status: Investigating

Issue: Big Team Battle is currently offering 6v6 matches instead of 8v8.

Description: The Big Team Battle playlist is currently offering 6v6 matches rather than 8v8 due to an issue with 16-player parties. Rather than remove the playlist, we are keeping it online at 6v6 until the issue is resolved.

Status: Investigating

We apologize that you're experiencing the current Matchmaking issues, and ensure you that we’re working around the clock to deliver fixes as soon as possible. We thank you for your patience and support, and will continue to provide official updates regularly via this thread.

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11.11.14 - 10:06 AM PST Update

Matchmaking: We are aware of the issues players have been experiencing with matchmaking and we’re working around the clock, alongside the Xbox Live team, to improve the situation. We have deployed an update that has shown some improvement, and we continue to optimize the experience. The update deployed to matchmaking was done on the server side and does not require an extra download to your Xbox One. This is our top priority and will keep everyone updated regularly as we deploy continued improvements.

Game Installation: We know many of you are excited to play Halo: The Master Chief Collection. The best way to make sure you’ve downloaded the required updates to play at launch is to turn on Background Downloads with your Xbox One connected to the internet.The base download for the game is about 45 GB and the day one update’s size varies depending on your region, but is generally somewhere between 15-20 GB.